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EASTERN COURIER, JUNE 17, 2011
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At Repco Highland Park and Botany
RPC0114
Rescue off
Waiheke
Howick Coastguard helped
rescue a man clinging to a flo-
tation device near Waiheke
Island on Sunday afternoon.
Rescue vessels Howick Res-
cue One and Lion Foundation
Rescue attended the callout
to Anzac Bay.
The man in his 60s fell into
the water from his dinghy
while checking a fishing net
shortly after 1pm.
He had been carrying a
cellphone but it became wet
and unusable.
He was in the water for 40
minutes before he was seen
from the shore.
The man was showing
signs of hypothermia when
he was pulled from the water
by the Coastguard aboard
Howick Rescue One.
He was treated with a
heating unit on Lion Foun-
dation Rescue before being
handed over to St John staff
at Kennedy Point Wharf.
Lion Foundation Rescue
skipper Allan Wetherall says
this incident should be a
reminder to all boaties to
wear a lifejacket and carry
communication devices.
Without being able to com-
municate no one can possibly
know that there is someone
who requires help,'' he says.
Regardless of how far out
or how close to shore you are
going, wearing a lifejacket
and having the ability to com-
municate is of the utmost
importance to keeping safe on
the water.''
Heart transplant now golf
Ross Forrester
By PIP BOURKE
IT WAS a little over two
years ago that Ross Forrester
lay on his hospital bed
waiting to die.
Now New Zealand's 211th
heart transplant patient is
playing golf in Sweden.
Mr Forrester will represent
the country in the World
Transplant games. He flew
out last Sunday and says he's
aiming for gold.
If I shoot 82 gross then I
should be able to come out on
top.''
The Howick resident says
making the most of his life is
the least he can do after his
heart surgery in 2009. He
says he wouldn't be here
today without his donor.
Not a day goes by that I
don't think about him and
thank him for his gift of life.''
Mr Forrester's donor
Andrew was 36 when he was
run over by a van while cross-
ing the road. It was because
of the generosity of Andrew's
family that I am here today,
the words thank you just
don't cut it.''
In 2006, Mr Forrester was
diagnosed with a congenital
heart disease -- hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy. It meant the
muscle within the heart
thickened leading to unexpec-
ted cardiac arrest.
He knew he would need a
transplant but had to wait
until he had just six months
to live before he could even go
on the waiting list.
This is a direct result of
not enough donors,'' he says.
There are about 36 donors
in New Zealand per year and
they have to be divided
among people waiting for
donations
and then
matched.''
Mr Forrester's chance came
in late 2009. He had been on
the waiting list for a while as
his condition had worsened.
I received a phone call at
6am and in we went.''
The surgery was expected
to last five hours and ended
up taking nine because of
complications.
Mr Forrester, who walked
the Tongariro Crossing
earlier this year, says the
main reason he is going to
Sweden is to promote the
importance
of organ
donation.
It took me an entire year
to be able to play 18 holes of
golf again but I did it. That
was all because someone had
told their family they wanted
to be an organ donor.''
The majority of the trip has
been sponsored by friends of
the golfer and donations
through his website.
Mr Forrester says the main
message is to make sure
people are aware that organ
donors save lives.
Budding biologists are going for gold
By STEPHANIE FAWCETT
Winning effort: Macleans College students Benjamin Bai, left, and Richard Chou have been chosen to represent New Zealand at
the International Biology Olympiad in Taiwan.
Photo: STEPHANIE FAWCETT
Studying hard has paid off
for Benjamin Bai and Rich-
ard Chou.
The Macleans College
students jet off to Taiwan to
represent New Zealand at
the 22nd International
Biology Olympiad in July.
They will be part of a team
of four New Zealand
students at the competition.
The pair took part in a
gruelling eight-day training
and selection camp before
being chosen for the team.
We took the entrance
exam to get into the
tutorials last year,'' Benja-
min says. There was
another selection exam to
get into the camp, another
two exams at the camp and
finally the best were chosen
to be on the team.''
Nineteen secondary school
students from throughout
New Zealand attended the
camp to receive hours of
tutoring for the exams.
The practical tutorials
were three or four-hour
sessions and there were two
a day,'' Benjamin says.
The boys are expecting
stiff competition from a
number of countries.
China, Taiwan, Singa-
pore and the United States
are our biggest competitors,''
Richard says. Taiwan got
four golds last year and the
USA got three. This year
we're going for gold.''